Page 228 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

walls and white-resin floors, sea terrace, chilled soundtrack and driftwood decor, this

is Santa Marina’s most chic hangout, though service can be lackadaisical at times.
Cocktails are served with an array of snacks of a quality you’d expect of one of the
island’s best restaurants. For once, they are served at your table, instead of the usual
buffet. If you’re lucky there will be tuna carpaccio, a delectable aubergine parmigiana,
crostini with caponata, and courgette-flower fritters. Daily 6.30pm–late.

La Vela Via Risorgimento 135 090 984 3541. Great hazelnut pastries, along with

traditional biscuits featuring lots of almonds, pistachios and a sticky cedro (citrus)
jam; cannoli are filled to order. There’s also a decent range of savoury snacks such as
arancini and pizza, all best enjoyed on the terrace overlooking the sea. Daily: summer
7.30am–late; winter 7.30am–1pm & 4–8pm.

Lingua

Three kilometres to the south of Santa Marina, Lingua is a prettier base, and its
traffic-free waterfront makes it ideal if travelling with young children. It’s connected
to Santa Marina by bus, though the undulating road makes a fine forty-minute stroll,
weaving around the coves in between the two settlements. Lingua itself is not much
more than a seafront promenade and a narrow beach, backed by a tiny cluster of hotels

and trattorias facing the shore of Lipari. At the end of the road is the salt lagoon from
which Salina takes its name, and a car park where locals used to gather after bumper
anchovy catches to salt fish en masse. Overlooking the lake, two typical Aeolian
houses have been converted into museums: a small ethnographic museum (May–Oct
Tues–Sun 9am–1pm & 3–6pm; free) holds examples of rustic art and island culture –

mainly kitchen utensils and mill equipment, much of it fashioned from lava rock, while
the archeological museum (May–Oct Tues–Sun 9am–6pm; free) has finds from
Bronze Age and Roman Salina.

ACCOMMODATION: LINGUA

A Cannata Via Umberto I 090 984 3161 or 339 575 4240, acannata.it. Set a
few metres back from the sea near the church, there are simple rooms above a decent
restaurant, and several apartments of various sizes and styles to rent around the

village, starting from around €500 a week in mid-season (€350 in low). Rooms €120
Il Delfino Via Marina Garibaldi 5 090 984 3024, ildelfinosalina.it. Smart new
rooms with marvellous terraces and views, set back from Lingua’s lungomare; and

older rooms opening directly onto it, which are a good bet if you have children. €160

Il Gambero Piazza Marina Garibaldi 090 984 3049, gamberosalina.it. Above Il
Gambero restaurant, the three simple, sparkling rooms with bathrooms here share a
fabulous terrace with 360-degree views of Lipari, Panarea, Stromboli and Monte